


Feathers For Flowers

by OneGrossPenguin



Category: One Piece, Original Work
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Doc Q is basically Death, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, So much flower symbolism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 15:45:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11558352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneGrossPenguin/pseuds/OneGrossPenguin
Summary: It was the kind of rural town where everyone knew another, where kindergarteners and high schoolers shared the same school building, and where old wives’ tales still held a surprising amount of power.(A weird, self-serving au thing featuring my One Piece OC, Wendy and Doc Q. Originally inspired by a friend that head canons Shinigami!Doc Q, but then I really took it and ran, Sorry.)





	1. House of Earth

**Author's Note:**

> SO UHM I GUESS THIS IS A THING I'M DOING. Not too much in this chapter but don't worry, we'll be gettin' to it soon! There'll probably be about 4-5 chapters in total, just to keep things from getting too awfully wordy. If you actually clicked on this?? Thank you, and make sure to stick around for more!

Wendy’s family had always lived in the small, rural town, surrounded by trees older than time cares to remember. It was the kind of rural town where everyone knew another, where kindergarteners and high schoolers shared the same school building, and where old wives’ tales still held a surprising amount of power.

The first time Wendy could recall hearing about these stories was one summer, long ago at the age of ten. Like most children in her town, she spent the majority of her days playing in the fields behind her neighbors' houses, exploring the woods and imagining grand beasts to fight off. On that day, she had been playing soccer with a group of friends, which quickly turned into dodgeball, which quickly turned into keep-away. As the children got more and more lost in their antics, they only ventured further away from their houses, further into the woods, further than any of their parents would have ever allowed. 

One of the older boys in the group in a rush to keep the ball away from Wendy kicked it as hard as he could, causing it to careen over the heads of all the children and out of sight as it flew over a large gathering of bushes. However, instead of the sound of the rubber ball rolling in the grass a few yards away, they heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. Any yelling and laughter from the children died immediately as they all looked at one another, all of them suddenly realizing the unfamiliar setting they were in. The eldest boy, named Meryl, cursed under his breath, which his sister let a small gasp out at hearing the word their mother forbade them from using.

“Well, you were it anyways, Wendy. You go get it.” She turned her head to Meryl in disbelief.

“Me!? You’re the one that kicked it that hard!” She stood her ground, expecting her friends to rally around her. It took a moment of silence and awkward glances to the ground to realize that she wouldn’t be saved from this situation by any of them. Her frown grew and she let out a huff of air.

“Well… fine! Since you’re too scared anyways…” She paused for another moment, hoping beyond hope that someone else would volunteer to venture off to get the ball, but they all remained completely still. Realizing she was truly on her own, she turned and began carefully stepping through the bushes, her hair getting caught on a branch every few seconds. Something felt odd about the gathering of bushes. They were bigger than any she had seen around her town, even as someone who prided herself on being an explorer that had found every nook and cranny of the sleepy village. They easily reached a foot over her head and were nearly too thick for a person to navigate through, but this definitely wasn’t her first time fitting through tight spaces, and by this point, she knew she would look like a chicken if she turned back now.

She reached her hand out in front of her to push more leaves out of her face when she felt her fingers break through the other side of the bushes. She let out a sigh of relief, quickly pushing the rest of her body out and to freedom. The feeling was short lived as she took in the sight in front of her.

Only a few yards away was a house, or at least what remained of one. It wasn’t uncommon to see abandoned houses and shacks in this part of the country, but something about this felt immediately different to her. The age was indiscernible to her, but her young brain took a guess that it had been there since the beginning of the world. Old dried paint peeled off the wooden sides of the house, large, massive vines wrapping themselves around the chimney and columns on the front porch. It felt as though the house came from the Earth itself. 

As she looked over the ancient house, and her eyes landed on a window right next to the front door, the glass shattered and exposing the dark insides of the domain. She swallowed hard, only vaguely relieved by the fact that it was an abandoned house. Cautiously, she walked towards the house, the grass long enough to tickle the back of her knees. Wendy only barely noticed, but the usual sounds of the forest seemed to completely die out. There wasn’t a single chirp of a bird or shuffling of woodland creatures across the forest floor. The only sound that could be heard was the cold, empty wind blowing across the leaves around her.

Just as Wendy was about to set foot on the front porch, there was a noise from inside the house. She froze immediately. Silence for another minute, before the front door slowly opened up. Wendy felt nearly paralyzed as she looked into the house, no light whatsoever reaching beyond the threshold. She saw something quickly sliding out the door towards her, and was just getting ready to scream when she realized it was her rubber ball. It rolled across the front porch and stopped only a few inches in front of her. The young girl looked down at it in disbelief, still, a bit shook. She kept an eye on the entrance as she carefully bent down to pick up the ball, holding it under her arm.

“… t-thank you. Sorry about the win-” Before she could finish, the door slammed shut, causing her to yelp out loud.

She backed away a few steps, afraid to take her eyes off of the house. When she was greeted with the same cold breeze, she quickly turned and ran back towards the bushes.

Upon her return to the group, there seemed to be a noticeable wave of relief washing over the children, which they quickly threw off as they began joking and playing yet again. It was getting late, and they knew they would get in trouble if they didn’t head home soon, so they decided to have a race back to the opening of the woods. Wendy had come in last that day, but only because she couldn’t help but look back behind herself every few seconds as they moved further and further away from the gathering of bushes.  
At dinner that night, she sat with her parents, picking at her plate of chicken and potatoes. Wendy was usually very boisterous about her daily adventures, but she fell strangely quiet at the table this evening. It didn’t go unnoticed by her mother, who rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Honey, are you ok? Did any of the other kids give you trouble today?” She asked, her voice easily reflecting her concern.

“No… I just saw something weird.” She responded, twirling her spoon in circles on her plate.

“Weird? Well, what was it?” Her father interjected, still carrying a bit of his usual lightheartedness in his tone. The young girl sat her spoon down.

“Is there someone that lives out in the woods mama? I thought you said all of our friends and family live by the roads.”

The table fell deadly quiet as her father's cheerful demeanor dropped almost immediately.

“Wendy, did you see someone in the woods today?” Wendy sat up, feeling dread building in her stomach as her parents nearly glared holes through her.

“I think so. I was playing with everyone else today and we almost lost our ball. When I went to get it, I found this really old house that-” She was cut off as her mother immediately got out of her chair and kneeled in front of her.

“Wendy, honey. You can’t ever, ever go back to that place. Do you understand?” Wendy felt on the verge of tears at this point, afraid that she had somehow accidentally angered her parents.

“W-why? Did I do something bad, mama?” She asked, her voice quivering softly.

“No, oh no honey. It’s just…” Her mother glanced back at her father, as though looking for the correct answer in him.

“That… that man. The man who lives there is very sick, honey. He’s very sick and if you’re around him, you could get sick too, do you understand?” Wendy was quiet for a second before she softly nodded her head. Her mother pulled her down to give her a surprisingly tight hug around her neck, rubbing comfortingly over her back, reassuring herself that everything would be ok. At the time, Wendy couldn’t tell if the reassurance was more for her or for her own mother.


	2. An Offering

Days passed after that incident. Wendy continued to play with her friends, complete chores around the house, and do all the other things a child is expected to do in a small town. Despite this, every night, she couldn’t help but think of the house made of Earth, the mysterious sick man, and the look of concern on her parents face that night at the dinner table. She felt as though there was something she was supposed to know about the situation, but she couldn’t piece anything together, which frustrated her beyond belief.

‘If he’s so sick, shouldn’t he be in a hospital? Shouldn’t he be with his family?’ Is all she could think about on days when the sun hid behind the clouds, and the rain poured down outside. Wendy considered herself to be a good person. A good person would do whatever they could to help someone that was sick, right? Guilt wore at her brain more and more until she couldn’t take it anymore. She was young and stupid, but she felt as though she had to do something to help the poor sick man in the house made of Earth.

It was another week before she returned to the house. With it being such a small, close-knit town, her parents weren’t nearly as strict on keeping up with her as they probably should have been. She simply told them that she would be playing with her same usual friends and they quickly wished her off, telling her to be back by sunset. A few quick “I love you’s” and with a small satchel on her side, she left the comfort of her house to venture back to the woods.

At first, she was afraid that she would have forgotten the way, seeing as though she all but came to the house by accident before. But as she wandered by trees, traveling deeper into the woods, she quickly began to recognize the familiar darkness that the leaves above cast over her as the forest grew thicker and thicker. Almost as though a force was pulling her through the maze of branches and thickets, she marched forward, looking behind her every so often to make sure she wouldn’t be caught.

Before Wendy realized it, she had made it back to the unusually large bushes. There were no distinct marks about it, no bright berries or flowers, but all the same, she immediately recognized them. She paused only for a second, taking one last look behind her. She was truly alone in these dark, strange woods. She turned her head back, letting out a soft sigh as she pushed her small body through the thicket. Branches pulled at her hair and scratched her skin, seemingly more harshly than the last time she had gone through, but she paid no mind to it. Her mind had been made up the moment she stepped foot into these woods. Another bit of pushing herself through the bushes and she broke through to the other side. The young girl took a moment to pull a few stray leaves out of her hair, checking to make sure no bugs had crawled their way onto her clothes. Once her quick inspection checked out, she looked ahead and saw the end of her destination. 

The ancient house stood in front of her, completely unchanged from her last visit, broken window included. She swallowed roughly, an odd feeling washing over her yet again, a feeling she was too young to fully comprehend. Despite this, she continued forward, gripping the strap of her bright orange satchel as she did so. Her steps were slow, purposeful. Just as she was about to set foot on the front step of the wooden porch, a sudden gust of wind blew against her face, causing her to temporarily shield her eyes. She pressed the satchel into her side, keeping it from possibly blowing open and carrying away the contents inside. Even though it was the dead of summer, the breeze had managed to chill her to her bones, making her step back in shock. She carefully lowered her arm as the breeze died down, raising her head back to the front door. With one last mental push, she stepped onto the porch, stopping only a few inches away from the dark entrance. With one hand still tightly clasped around her satchel, she brought the other one up to the door, knocking rather timidly against the wood, partially due to her own nervousness and also due to how worn and brittle the door itself looked.

For a long while, there was silence. Wendy glanced around nervously before raising her hand again, knocking only slightly louder. Again, she was left alone with only the sound of the occasional wind behind her. As she began to knock again there was a loud noise behind the door, some sort of thumping sound. The blonde jumped away from the door a bit but ultimately stood her ground.

“Mister? I’m sorry about your window… my mama told me you were sick.” She said, her voice coming out shakier than what she would have liked. Silence greeted her as her eyes scanned the door closely, looking for any possible movement. She licked her lips, dried out from the chilly air around her, and reached down to open her satchel.

“I don’t have any money mister, but I got you something as an apology.” While her head was still turned down, searching through her bag, she heard a click from the other side of the door and she froze. The sound of soft creaking began to fill her ears as she cautiously turned her head up to face the door. 

It was only opened a few inches, but it still allowed just enough light to hit the figure inside. Even as a child, she knew this man was almost inhumanly tall, as she noticed him slightly bent down to allow his head to be visible through the entrance. Nearly his entire body was covered by an unseasonably large coat made of what appeared to be worn out fur, leaving only his head and the hand propping the door open visible to her. He wore a dark, beaten hat on top of his head, the wide brim of which effectively covered most of his gaunt face. Though anxiety still stirred inside of Wendy, she could also feel the guilt that brought her back to this place returning, seeing for herself how ill the man truly must have been. She was about to continue speaking when the man tilted his head down just a bit, letting his tired eyes rest on her face.

“Little one… you shouldn’t be wandering by yourself.” He muttered. It sounded as though just speaking itself took a concentrated effort. With another gulp of air, the small girl pulled her gift from her bag, holding her hand up to the man. In her fist, she held a flower, bright and yellow, the petals of which had been slightly smothered from being inside her bag.

“It’s a marigold, sir. I have a book at home about flowers. It says that these are supposed to make you feel better.”

The man stared down at the flower, his face unreadable. He shifted slightly, keeping the door just barely open.

“Haven’t your parents told you… you shouldn’t come out here, you know? … I’m terribly sick.” The girl responded without missing a beat.

“Then I’ll come and bring more flowers. There are lots that are supposed to help, sir.” Her free hand nervously picked at one of the loose strands of fabric on her bag.

“I know my mama said I shouldn’t come out here, but my parents also told me I should always apologize if I do something bad, even if I didn’t mean to do it. I don’t have a lot of money, so I can’t buy you a new window, but there are lots of flowers around here, so maybe they can help make you better, sir.”

The ill man stood completely still, turning the girl’s words over in his mind. He looked back to her outstretched hand once more, which hadn’t wavered an inch. Wendy almost jumped when the man let out a weak laugh, which came out more as a grunt and quickly evolved into a coughing fit. Once his body had settled back, he gave a strained smile down at the girl.

“Aren’t you an odd one… well, I guess it would be rude to turn down your offering.” Without stepping out of the house, he reached out, allowing Wendy to see the true gray pallor of his skin. Seemingly as gentle as he could, he wrapped his fingers around the stem of the flower, pulling it from the girl’s hand. He brought it to his chest, mindfully twirling it between two fingers as he closely inspected the petals. His eyes flickered back down to the young blonde, who was now wearing a large smile and happily bouncing in place. 

“Now then… you need to travel back home, little one. You wouldn’t want to worry your parents.” She gave a quick nod in response and turned to run off the porch, yelling back at the man as she left.

“I’ll be back soon, sir!” Before the stranger could protest against her, she had already begun to worm her body through the bushes she came from. He stood her for another silent moment, and then with a sigh, shut the door to his domain, returning to the darkness inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part, and WOW!! SOME ACTUAL CHARACTER INTERACTION HUH?? I'm pretty nervous about postin' from this point on, seein' as though this is my first time tryin' to write for Doc Q and I wanna try to at least vaguely make him recognizable as his canon self. Hopefully, I get a lil' more comfortable by the next chapter, and thanks again for stoppin' by!

**Author's Note:**

> Wow you actually read it. If you weren't able to tell, I'm kinda goin' for a more folky/Southern take on this setting (think O Brother, Where Art Thou?) cause I grew up in a very similar setting and have always kinda had a weakness for it haha. Hope you enjoy this weird retelling of the character, I'll try not to get too awfully indulgent but I can't make any promises.


End file.
